Matinee Classics - Sheldon Leonard Biography & Filmography

Sheldon Leonard ACTOR

PHOTOS

SHELDON LEONARD BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Sheldon Leonard was born on February 22nd, 1907 in New York City, New York with the birth name Leonard Sheldon Bershad. After high school he went on to enroll at Syracuse university and studied acting. After he earned his college degree he began working not in the entertainment industry, but instead on Wall Street. However, with the Wall Street Crash of 1929, he lost his job and decided it was now his chance to focus on a career in acting.

He began with small off-Broadway stage roles and it took him almost five years to get his first Broadway role in the play, "Hotel Alimony" in 1934 followed by roles in such productions as, "Having Wonderful Time" (1937) and "Kiss the Boys Goodbye" (1938).

Now that he had gained some stage experience, Leonard began auditioning for film roles and soon was seen on the big screen in such features as, "Tall, Dark and Handsome" (1941), "Lucky Jordan" (1942), "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946), "Jinx Money" (1948), "To Have and Have Not" (1944), "Open Secret" (1948), "Money from Home" (1953), "Guys and Dolls" (1955) and "Pocket Full of Miracles" (1961).

Leonard then began to turn his focus on working in television adding numerous credits to his resume with acting appearances in such series as, "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.", "The Danny Thomas Show", "Burke's Law", "I Spy", "Big Eddie" and "Sanford & Son".

In addition to his acting he also became a well known and highly successful television producer and director with such projects as, "The Dick Van Dyke Show", "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.", "The Danny Thomas Show", "The Andy Griffith Show", "The Bill Dana Show", "I Spy", "Accidental Family", "Lassie" and "My World and Welcome to It".

For all his work in the industry such as being known as the creator of television spin-offs, Sheldon Leonard was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1992 and in 1995, he was honored with a lifetime membership into the Director's Guild of America.

Sheldon Leonard married only one time to Frances Bober in 1931 and they had two children and remained together until he passed away from natural causes on January 10th, 1997 in Beverly Hills, California. His remains are buried at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Filmography

1992 Dream On

1990 Cheers

1990 Murder, She Wrote

1987 Matlock

1987 The Facts of Life

1985 The Cosby Show

1981 I'm a Big Girl Now

1980 The Littlest Hobo

1978 The Brink's Job

1978 The Islander

1978 Top Secret